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n solidly grwndccl pojvcr systcms, whccr.

scparatc rquipnwn t ground iiig coiiductors

:ire used insideconduit or other mceways,sizing the equipmerit grounding conductor

( K C ) prr the minimum specified it1 NEC Article
250-122, 'l'iiblc 250-122, Ciiti r m d t in ilii itiiideq iiii t c g r o u n d- faLL1t c i rc LLi t design . Depe ndi rig
qmi thr mqnitttcle of the grnund-hilt current
snd t h e speciric r a t i n g or setrings of t h e
overcurrent protective device, iin LGC can be kunaged nr completely destroyed beLoore an upstrean
overcurrent device c m clrnr the h i l t . Maxinium
thermal damage to an EGC often resutts h o m
lowlevel ground h i l t s , wlierc currents fnll l~clow
the short delay pickup setting for rlre protective
circuit breaker.
It should be recognized that Table 250-122 of
the NliC 111serves only as a guirlc i n clctcrminitig
the tniiiitiiuin size ofan EGC. This is emphasizecl
by t h e nore atldeil beneath the trtblc, which mites
"Eqiiipment Grounding Concltictors inay nced to
bc sizcd largcr than spccificd in this tnhlu in ordur

to comply wit11 Scction ZSO-Z(d)." Section

250-2(d), states t h a n nn cffcctivc grounding path
shall "]lave the cnpacity to cotduct safely iiny fault
current likely tn be impnsed nn it." IJnfortunately,
Table 250-122 is often used as the only basis for selecting a n EGC. Here we present :in rxiimple that
illustrntes how selecting an E M b ; d only on Txble 250-122 nin result i n a g r n u n d - f d t ciccuitdesign thar may violare Secrioti 250-2(d).

Sizinj of EGC
A feeder circuit showing ii circuit breaker providing
protection for rhree, 1/C, 5013 kcmil
pliase conrluctors is presented in Pig. 1.The long-delay pickup (LDPU) of the breaker is set at 400 A.
From Tnble 250-122, LI minitnum #3 copper EGC
would be required for chis application. This is based
on the LDPU setting of the Ixe;lker. The remining
settings for Inn2 deliy time (LDT), short-delay
pickq>(SDIW),short-delay time (SDT), iitid instantatieotis are not considered in selecting rlre EtiC.
Also prcscnted in Fig. I i s a typical roordination curve for ii 400-A circuit brcnkcr, along with
variotts tliurmal damagc cwvc's for difforcnt sized
F,GCs. Thc settings for the circuit brenkcr arc ns
~IIOW
Ll>PU
S : = 400 A, LDT = 36 s a t 2400 A,
S111'1J = &IO0 A, nncl SDT = 0 . L X s. Actu:il settings would Iic dcpcndcnt upti downstrelm devices. Tlic! rhcrmal damagc curves :ire b:ised 011 the
following cxprtssion 121 fix a cnpper EGC:
overcurrenc

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whcrc
chc init i d tenipcmtucc of co~icli~ctoc
the find tcmpenictirc of unndticror
w I = currcnr h w
w t - rinic h i t currenc flows I
10 s
w ChZ = thc aren of conductor in circ. i n i k .
Thc ilidividu:il thcrnial cliiniagc cilrvcs along
with ilicir ~iil~imerers
iirc irlcntihcd as ~ollows:

1'1

't'2

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1000-

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100_-

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10.-

i.m"

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I X20,000ASC

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--

SDPU

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0.1--

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- #3,1083"C,

i
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#3,25OCC

01. 1

--I

- 1-

Melt

X 100100
A at 480 V

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1000
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clnmagc, x 350-kcmil liGC woulrl be recliiirecl.

This assiiiiws ~hcrmoplasticinsulaiion with a rciinpuraturc rating oC 150 "C. Thc size of rhc I<GC,in
this c ~ s c was
,
~ i l ~ ~ i l using
i ~ ~ e the
~ l thermal clainage
cquxioii I y setriiig T1 :75 "C, T2 = I S 0 "C, I =
5800 A, c I c) s , and solving for CM.
The iibove example represents :I worst-case scennrio b y asstimiiig that :ill grmiid-f:itilt current PL'tiirns t ~ c m
k rhc supply viil the ECX mther than
throiigli :I concliiit or raceway. Ftirtlicri~iorc,i t WIS
assumed t h sclxinite grouidfiiult p r o t e ~ r i m\vis

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not i i s d

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1aoc

1oc

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'

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io

- 500 kcmit

Phase Conductor

i=

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#3,250C,
50%

- #3, 1 0 B 3 T , Melt
#3,25O0C
.01

10

100

X 100 A at 48OV

woo

10,000